An Ultrathin Laterally Conductive Mesh Interphase Enables Spatially Extended Zinc Deposition for Aqueous Zinc Batteries

Abstract

Zn metal anodes often suffer from nonuniform interfacial reactions during cycling, resulting in uneven deposition and dendrite growth. Existing artificial interphases can mitigate side reactions or regulate nucleation, but rarely achieve regulation of the interfacial electron/field distribution to sustain uniform deposition at the evolving Zn/electrolyte interface. Here, we develop an Au mesh interphase (AuMI), an ultrathin two-dimensional Au aerogel network that couples lateral electron redistribution with open pathways for ions. During Zn plating/stripping, the conductive AuMI distributes electron transport across the Zn surface, while its porous mesh preserves Zn$^{2+}$ access, enabling more uniform interfacial reactions. Experiments and simulations show that AuMI homogenizes the interfacial electric field and current distribution, promotes more uniform Zn plating/stripping, and limits dendrite growth. As a result, this regulated interfacial reaction mode enables AuMI Zn symmetric cells to operate stably for 3000 h at 1 mA cm$^{-2}$/1 mAh cm$^{-2}$ and for 1100 h at 10 mA cm$^{-2}$/10 mAh cm$^{-2}$, while AuMI Zn||NVO (NaV$_3$O$_8$\cdot$1.5H$_2$O) full cells retain 80.8 % capacity after over 5000 cycles at 1 A g$^{-1}$. These findings highlight the importance of combining ultrathin architecture, lateral electron transport, and open Zn2+ access in artificial interphases for stable aqueous Zn metal anodes.